I think I get what you're asking, Soma. The Taco John's here has meat textured like you describe. I read that they soak the ground beef in water for 2 to 3 hours before cooking it in shortening, and keep mashing it with a fork.

taxlady, I guess the texture I'm looking for is more like cooked porridge.

Andy, I think you're wrong.....if I brown the meat first, it gets hard and crunchy on the outside, and sometimes bits of it stay in clumps which are a bit larger than I'd like, unless I keep smashing them to bits, which I don't want to do.

Yes, if you brown the meat, it gets harder and crusty. However, if you then add it to you r tomato sauce and simmer it for two hours, it won't be hard and crusty any more.

The texture of raw ground meat in tomato sauce may be different but I don't classify cooked ground meat as firm and crusty after cooking.

I keep breaking up the clumps until they are uniformly small because that's the was I like them in my sauce.

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"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." -Carl Sagan

Having worked at Taco John's - they don't soak the meat in water...The ground beef (20 lb) is placed in a pressure cooker with 4 gallons of water and a 5 lb bag of "spices". It is then sealed and cooked for a prearranged amount of time, I forget that number. When it's done the water has been absorbed by the "spices" and then this is mashed together with a giant potato masher to 1. break up the meat and 2. get it mixed to the proper consistency...much like toothpaste. The first ingredient in the "spices" is Textured Vegetable Proteins.

Now this was over 30 years ago, but it is what I did first thing in the morning before I sat down and did the bookkeeping and bank deposit.

__________________“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” - Albert Einstein

Having worked at Taco John's - they don't soak the meat in water...The ground beef (20 lb) is placed in a pressure cooker with 4 gallons of water and a 5 lb bag of "spices". It is then sealed and cooked for a prearranged amount of time, I forget that number. When it's done the water has been absorbed by the "spices" and then this is mashed together with a giant potato masher to 1. break up the meat and 2. get it mixed to the proper consistency...much like toothpaste. The first ingredient in the "spices" is Textured Vegetable Proteins.

Now this was over 30 years ago, but it is what I did first thing in the morning before I sat down and did the bookkeeping and bank deposit.

What a nifty method. I might do this next time I make tacos just to see how it comes out.
Do you have to do much mixing before you start cooking the meat, or can you literally simply put the three ingredients into the PC and let the PC do the work? (then mash when done)
I'll bet you could make spaghetti sauce similarly.

What a nifty method. I might do this next time I make tacos just to see how it comes out.
Do you have to do much mixing before you start cooking the meat, or can you literally simply put the three ingredients into the PC and let the PC do the work? (then mash when done)
I'll bet you could make spaghetti sauce similarly.

You just put it all in. I would reduce the water a lot if you are not needing it to rehydrate the TVP.

__________________“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” - Albert Einstein